


The Place for Me and You

by NickNackPaddyWack



Category: Camp Camp (Web Series)
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Bad Parenting, F/M, Original Character(s), Siblings, Summer Camp, Summer Romance, Teen Romance, Teenagers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-17
Updated: 2020-02-03
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:48:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22293598
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NickNackPaddyWack/pseuds/NickNackPaddyWack
Summary: The weirdest summer of Max’s childhood was at age ten, when he went to Camp Campbell. It was also his only summer at Camp Campbell, but seven years later, he’s back with someone new in tow. With her and Nikki there, it might not be too bad.
Relationships: Max & Original Character, Max/Nikki (Camp Camp)
Comments: 11
Kudos: 52





	1. Seven Years Later

**Author's Note:**

> I usually do FanFiction and Wattpad, but idk, I wanted to do this one here. It’s my first Camp Camp story, and I hope you enjoy it.

By the end of the summer, Max hadn’t found Camp Campbell to be quite as horrible as he had in the beginning. Not that he would ever admit that. It was better than home, at least. Though even school was sometimes better than home.

He had made two friends there; best friends. Something he’d never had before. They didn’t live too far from one another, about an hour or so by car between them, so they had exchanged addresses (which Candy had been more than happy to do with Carl). Though Max knew his friends would never be coming to his house and that his parents wouldn’t bother driving him to either of theirs. Still, he managed to see them every now and again. Part of him looked forward to going to Camp Campbell, as he’d be able to see them every day. Only that time never came.

Neil had intended to sign up for science camp, so that was where he went the next summer. Nikki had loved Camp Campbell and come back again. Max was hit with a bombshell when last summer had ended. His parents were having a baby. His parents weren’t a lovey-dovey couple, but even they needed to relieve tension at times, he supposed. Fucking 13% condom failure rate.

It hadn't been some happy, joyous occasion. It was an insignificant event his parents had casually told him about, and Max hated it. He knew what this meant. It meant that he would end up being their babysitter and a part-time parent despite being ten fucking years old. He resented the child before it was even born.

But when the time had finally come, that changed. After his mother had given birth, his father had taken him to the natal ward, where he pointed to the little girl in her bassinet. Max had looked at the ugly little monkey, and then at his dad. There was no look of pride or joy on his face. Only indifference. And that’s when Max knew he and this kid were going to be in the same boat from then on.

He’d spent that summer helping take care of his little sister, Leslie, when his mom and dad worked or decided to spend their time not being decent parents. Despite the dirty diapers and crying, Max had grown surprisingly fond of the baby, whom he affectionately referred to as “the brat.” Now he wasn’t completely alone in that house.

Fortunately, he was still able to see his friends. Every now and then he’d steal some of his mom and dad’s cash and get on a bus to visit Nikki or Neil, sometimes both, when they decided to meet up somewhere. Lucky for him, neither of his parents ever seemed to notice. When he had gotten older, he got a part-time job and saved up to buy a cellphone and managed to convince his parents to put him on their phone plan, arguing that he’d need to call them “in case Leslie and I accidentally burn down the house or some shit.” He finally had a way to keep in touch with Nikki and Neil, and with unlimited texting, he ended up talking to them often. Complaining about his parents, listening to Neil nerd out, and reading what crazy shit Nikki had been up to; it was actually pretty fun. And when Neil hit sixteen and got a car, they finally had a way to hang out more often.

One Saturday in May, seven years after his one summer at Camp Campbell, Max had been playing with his sister. He drove a remote car around the kitchen while Leslie chased it, occasionally steering it very close to the wall in an attempt to see his sister run into it for his own amusement.

After a few minutes, their mother, who had been sitting at the kitchen table reading her magazine, groaned and slammed her reading material onto the table. “Could you two be quiet for _five_ minutes? I just need a _moment_ to myself.”

“Seems like you always need a moment to yourself,” Max replied, unafraid to sass his mother, and he could hear his little sister stifle a giggle.

“You little…” she muttered. “God, summer can’t come soon enough.”

“Looking forward to having us home 24/7?” Max said sarcastically.

His mother rolled her eyes and took two pieces of folded paper out of her purse, put them onto the table and slid them in her son’s direction. Curiosity got the better of Max, and he sat down next to her and unfolded the two documents.

“You’ve gotta be shitting me,” he said.

“What is it? What is it?” Leslie said, bouncing up and down on her toes. Hearing Max swear was nothing unusual for her. Her first word had ended up being “fuck,” after all.

On the table were two forms, one a volunteer form and the other a registration form for a child. Both were for Camp Campbell.

“She’s old enough to go now, and you’re seventeen, which is old enough to be a volunteer counselor. You can go there this summer. You liked it when you were a kid.”

“ _Liked_ it?” Max said incredulously. “The fuck are you on? I clearly said that place was shit when I got home at the end of the summer.”

“Did you now?” his mother said, clearly uninterested as she picked her magazine back up. She shook her head. “Just fill out the damn forms, Max.”

She got up and walked to her room with the magazine in hand, and Leslie came over to Max, doing her best to see over the table and look at the text despite being unable to read. Max sighed and leaned back in his chair, when his cell phone chimed. It was a notification in his group chat with Nikki and Neil. He casually opened it up to find a message from Nikki.

_omg you guys it’s hapeniiiiiiiiiiiing!!!!!!!!!_

Moments later he received a picture, and he felt a smile tug at his lips when he saw the Camp Campbell volunteer counselor form.

Max put his phone on the table and looked at his sister. “Get over here, ya little shit.”

Leslie smiled and opened her arms. Max picked her up and put her in his lap. He grabbed a pen and pulled the papers towards him.

Maybe this wouldn’t be too bad.


	2. Her Normal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Even Nikki had to grow up, eventually. Whether she wanted to or not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I found it interesting when Nikki said her dad would buy her mom flowers when he wanted to get her back. I imagine they never married or are divorced but on-and-off in either case.
> 
> Anyway, this isn’t as good as the first chapter, but I wanted to add some of Nikki's life into the story and how she was forced to grow up.

The moment Nikki had arrived home after her first summer at Camp Campbell, she already missed it. Having adventures every day with her friends and befriending the animals (or attempting to, in many cases) had been so much fun. She had been thoroughly disappointed when she eventually found out that Neil would be going to boring science camp and Max would be staying at home the following summer, but Nikki still made the best of it and had a great time.

She attended Camp Campbell for a total of four years before David and Gwen had informed her that she would be too old to attend the following summer. Of course, she’d had a total breakdown, and her mother had to apologize and ask them to not make her pay for any damages Nikki may or may no have caused. After that, Nikki had spent her summers at home.

Home. Nikki loved home. She loved living with her mom and sometimes her dad. Her parents would get into arguments until Candy would finally tell Nikki’s father to pack his bags and leave. Her mom would make a new friend during that time. The men she’d take home for Nikki to meet were always so nice. Every now and then she’d make more than one friend before her dad would return home. He’d always come home months later with a bouquet of her mother’s favorite flowers, and Candy would always forgive him. The flowers would sit in a yellow vase in the middle of the table they’d all sit around and eat happy meals together at.

This was normal for Nikki. This was life for Nikki, and she hadn’t thought there was anything unusual about it until she had been thirteen.

“Hey, Nikki, wanna come over to my house this Saturday?” her friend Jamie asked one day during lunch. 

“Sure, that sounds fun. I’ll see if my dad can drive me. Mom’s having a spa day with her friend Carol on Saturday.”

“Your dad? I don’t think I’ve ever met him when I’ve been to your house.”

“Really?” Nikki said, and she tried to recall the times in the past when she’d invited over her friend. “Oh yeah, I guess he and Mom weren’t together then.”

“Oh, your parents got back together? That’s nice.”

“Yeah, can you believe it took eight whole months this time?”

“...This time?”

“Uh-huh. Usually it’s five months tops before dad comes home and asks Mom to take him back,” Nikki said before chomping into her burger. She looked up from her meal and at her friend, who stared at Nikki with a strange look on her face. That’s when Nikki realized she shouldn’t have said that. That’s when Nikki realized this wasn’t normal.

Still, it remained normal for her throughout the years, and she loved her parents all the same. 

“Uuuuugh, I’m so bored,” a seventeen-year-old Nikki said one day.

“If you really want to change the channel, that’s fine, Nicolette,” her mother said while painting her nails.

“But there’s nothing good on. There’s never anything good on. Television has gone to trash. And soon it’s going to be summer!” Summer was always a fun time for Nikki; she’d either go to camp or have adventures with her dad (ones that would usually get them into trouble with Candy and on occasions, cause a split-up). But her dad was gone for now, and Nikki was too old for camp.

She was going to be bored out of her mind. That, and she didn’t want to be home all summer. Sure, she loved home, but it wasn’t the same as when she was a kid. Memories of things that she had seen as normal had started to make sense to her over the years. How her mother would tell Nikki to go to her room, put her headphones on, and watch a movie on her portable DVD player while she and her father “talked.” Her mother’s “friends” that would visit and were so nice. The times when Candy would tell Nikki to go play outside while they spent some “quality time” together. These memories made Nikki cringe now, and long periods of time at home with nothing to do would make her think of them.

“Well, I don’t know what you want me to do, baby girl,” Candy said.

“I wish I could go back to Camp Campbell. That was the best place you’d ever sent me to.”

“Camp what?”

“Camp Campbell?” Nikki said, giving her mom a confused look. “The camp you sent me to for four years?”

Candy stared blankly at her daughter.

“The adventure camp?”

Nothing.

Nikki sighed. “I had a friend there whose dad had health insurance.”

A look of recognition appeared in Candy’s eyes. “Ooooh, Camp Campbell. Right. You made those friends there. Mack and Noel?”

“Max and Neil, Mom. Max and Neil.”

“Right... how’s Neil’s father doing these days?”

“Remarried.”

“Huh. Is that so?  
“Look, Nicolette, they told you that you were too old to go back there. I don’t know what you want me to do.”

“Can’t I get a summer job there or something?”

Candy sighed and gestured to the laptop next to her on the couch. “Take a look. Be my guest.”

“Yay! Thanks, Mom. You’re the best!” Nikki jumped onto the couch and pulled her mother into a bearhug. Candy quickly grabbed for her bottle of nail polish before it fell over. She sighed and rolled her eyes, but she couldn’t help but smile and pat her daughter on the back.

It would be just like old times.


	3. Welcome Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Volunteer counselors Max and Nikki arrive at Camp Campbell for counselor training.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The ages of Gwen, David, Max, Neil, and Nikki were all confirmed. Any ages I use are what they would canonically be seven years post–series. Gwen would be 32 here.
> 
> Chapters will likely all be on the short side since I don’t have any big ideas, and I’m just posting what ideas I do get.
> 
> And random fact: Nikki and Max look like how Briizer draws them as teens lol. Version where Nikki has the ponytail.

Just as he had seven years ago, Quartermaster had pulled up to Max’s house and picked him up. Somehow, the old man hadn’t aged a day. Nikki had eagerly greeted Max and talked his ear off the entire bus ride to camp. While he was happy to see her, he couldn’t help but worry for his sister, who wouldn’t be arriving at camp for another week. She’d never been left alone with their parents for a long period of time before. That is, left alone. He made sure she knew how to cook basics so that she would be able to make food for herself when their parents came home late or just didn’t bother.

After what seemed like forever, the bus finally pulled into Camp Campbell.

“Volunteer counselors are here,” Quartermaster said after opening the bus door, introducing them as he always introduced his bus passengers.

Nikki eagerly jumped down the steps and out of the bus. She landed on the fresh grass and took in that beautiful, clean nature air.

“Aaaah, I’m home,” Nikki said happily. Max rolled his eyes but couldn’t help a small smile from appearing on his face.

“Welcome, volunteer counselors!” said an annoyingly familiar voice, and the two teens stared at their two old counselors standing in front of them.

“David!” Nikki cheered.

“Shit, it’s already begun,” Max said in dread.

“It’s great to have you back,” David said happily. “It’ll be just like old times!”

“That’s what I’m worried about,” said Max.

“Oh Max, same as always. How have you been? You never respond to my letters.”

His letters. His stupid letters. Knowing that Max’s parents were neglectful, David had sent Max letters throughout the years to check in and let Max know that he was thinking of him. It was annoying as hell, but a small part of Max appreciated it. He’d die before he ever admitted that, though.

“There’s a reason for that, you know.”

“Okay, listen here, you little shits,” Gwen said, glaring at the two of them. “Don’t think I don’t know how this goes. You’re seventeen and hormonal. I don’t want any funny business. That means you, Max.”

“What? Why me specifically? Nikki’s crazy.”

“Heeeeeey,” Nikki said, slightly dejected.

“You’re a teenage boy. The lowest of low.” She turned to Nikki and handed her a whistle. “Nikki, blow this whistle if he touches you.”

“What the actual fuck?” was all Max could muster.

“Okay now, let’s all be calm,” David said nervously. “Now, why don’t we go over the list of new campers who will be joining us before we go have lunch?”

“Oh boy, get to it!” Nikki said excitedly. “I am pumped!”

“That’s the spirit!" David said. Max groaned.

“Aw, come on, Max. It’ll be fun!” Nikki assured him.

“Easy for you to say. You’ve never had to raise a kid.”

“‘Raise a kid’?” Gwen said, then shook her head. “Huh. Figures you’d be the one ending up a teen parent.”

“The fuck is that supposed to mean? I’m talking about my little sister! And you’re not in any place to judge. You’re in your thirties and still single. The biological clock is ticking, Gwen.”

“Who says I’m single?" Gwen said, crossing her arms.

Max stared at her, a dare in his eyes, before she finally conceded. “Little shit,” she muttered.

David cleared his throat. “Alrighty then. First, let’s go over the activities we offer here at Camp Campbell: we’ve got archery, hiking, scuba diving, biking—”

“—We’re not doing the fucking song, David,” Gwen said, snatching the clipboard from her co-counselor’s hands. “Let’s get this over with so we can go eat:  
“Jason Jimenez: soccer camp.  
“Alan Johnson: art camp  
“Megan Barker: dance camp.  
“Coral Briggins: baking camp.  
“Michael Gold: poetry camp—Jesus Christ, this is gonna suck.  
“Lucas Haggerty: guitar camp.  
“Aiman Carter: swimming camp.  
“Julia Scardaci: musical theater camp.”

“So like Preston but worse,” Max concluded.

“Basically.  
“And lastly, Leslie Rajan.” Gwen spared Max a curious glance, obviously recognizing the last name. “Adventure camp.”

“Adventure camp?” said Nikki, her voice tinted with both excitement and curiosity as she turned to look at Max.

“What?” he said, rubbing the back of his head in an attempt to hide his embarrassment. “She wasn’t sure what she wanted to do. I suggested the first thing that came to mind, and she liked it.”

“I was the first thing that came to your mind?" Nikki teased, pointing to herself.

Max frowned. “Shut up, idiot.” He punched her shoulder.

Nikki quickly pulled the whistle Gwen had given her out of her pocket and blew it as loud as humanly possible.

“Jesus, Nikki, that’s not what I meant!” Gwen shouted, covering her ears.


	4. The New Generation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The new campers arrive, only to find out what Camp Campbell is really about. Nikki has an old feeling creep up on her.

It had been a week of training as volunteer counselors. Nikki had been rooming with Gwen and Max with David. Both Gwen and Max had just about enough of their roommates, and Nikki was pretty sure that Max was plotting David’s murder at this point. Now, today was the day.

Nikki was practically bouncing up and down in excitement as the bus full of campers pulled up. She enthusiastically greeted each child that came off the bus, earning eye rolls from a few of them. Finally, the youngest of them, a little girl around six, emerged from the bus.

Nikki gasped. “Oh my god, it’s a mini-Max,” she said, running up to the child and dropping to her knees to get a better look at the girl. Dark skin, curly black hair partially pulled back and bright cyan eyes the same as her brother’s. “Oooh, I just wanna put her in my pocket.”

“Please don’t,” Max said as the little girl ran from Nikki and latched onto Max’s leg. A small smile crept onto his lips, and he ruffled the young girl’s hair. Nikki couldn’t help but smile. Max had changed since Leslie was born. A good change. He was more caring and open to showing that, but he was still the same lovable asshole at heart. He looked up at Nikki, grinning. “She’s shy at first, but I’m sure she’ll get used to your annoyingness pretty quickly.” Nikki felt that familiar squeezing in the pit of her stomach. How long had it been like this?

She remembered when Neil’s parents had finally allowed him to apply to college at the age of seventeen. Of course, he had gotten in. Sixteen-year-olds Max and Nikki had seen him off, Max punching his shoulder and Nikki giving him a crushing hug as she gave a tearful goodbye despite the fact that his school was only an hour and a half away from her house.

Candy had driven Max home, and Nikki gave him a hug goodbye, as she often did. But that had been the first time in their six years of friendship that Max hugged her back, having felt sentimental that day. Her heart had fluttered at the unexpected gesture.

After that, when Nikki would see Max, she would occasionally get that fluttering of her heart and that squeezing in her stomach. It was a funny feeling, but a nice one.

She wasn’t sure what it was at first, but eventually, she recognized it. That feeling was familiar. It was the look in her mother’s eyes when she took back her father. That smile she bore when she received the flowers from him. That desperate look on Nikki’s father’s face as he begged Candy to take him back. After realizing that, that funny feeling, that nice feeling Nikki would get when Max smiled at her, became one that she sometimes dreaded. She saw the love between her parents but also the painful memories.

 _Nope, nope, nope_ , Nikki thought to herself as she shook the feelings away. She didn’t want that.

“So where’s the pool?” one boy, around thirteen, asked.

“Pool? They have a pool here?” a blonde girl asked. “I suppose swimming would be an amusing recreational activity.”

“Recreational? This is swimming camp,” the boy replied.

“Swimming camp? Did I get on the wrong bus? This is Camp Campbell, right? Guitar camp?”

“What? No, Camp Campbell is baking camp.”

“No, it’s art camp.”

Max sighed as the children all started arguing at once over which camp they were at. Nikki pulled out her whistle and handed it to him. He nodded in appreciation before blowing it, catching the campers’ attention.

“Okay, listen up, brats. Welcome to Camp Campbell. Each of you has been scammed by a—”

“—Oooookay, Max,” David said, stepping forward and grabbing the whistle from his hands, “that’s enough of that.  
“Well, campers, each of you is right! Camp Campbell offers a wide range of activities and will give each of you the camping experience you signed up for!”

There was a moment of silence until one boy finally spoke up. “That’s bullshit.”

“This one gets it,” Max said, pointing to the kid who had just spoken.

“No worries, campers!” came a familiar voice.

“Mr. Campbell!” David cheered, eyes lit up.

“You’re not dead yet?” Max said, raising an eyebrow.

Cameron laughed. “I’m still kicking! Not that anyone is trying to change that. That would imply I’ve been involved in shady activities.”

“Again.”

Cameron muttered some profanities directed towards Max, and then he looked at the campers, a bright, fake smile on his face. “Don’t worry, children. The ads may have been slightly misleading, but I assure you that we’ve been cleared by the government after a thorough investigation, and none of your parents can sue me!”

“Why would that make us feel better?” one girl asked.

“I’m pretty sure he was saying that to reassure himself more than anyone else,” Gwen said. “Anyway, we’ll show you to your cabins now. Nikki, you and the girls come with me. Max, you and David will take the boys.”

“Dammit,” Max muttered. Whether this was because he would be stuck with David or separated from Leslie was unclear to Nikki. Perhaps a bit of both. He crouched down to look at his nervous little sister, ruffling her hair again. He looked at her and then nodded towards Nikki. “I promise she doesn’t bite.”

Nikki nodded, reassuring the girl. “Not without being provoked.”

Max gave her a disapproving look, but Leslie giggled.

“Onward, children,” Nikki said to the girls, running in the direction of the cabins. The young girls protested as they hauled their luggage and tried to catch up with Nikki.

Gwen sighed and gestured for them to follow her instead. “Let’s get moving.”

Leslie waved at Max and followed Gwen and the other girls towards the cabin. Max looked at Nikki in the distance, still keeping a steady pace towards the cabin. He couldn’t help but grin.


End file.
